Publications scheme

2. Who we are

Class is described as: Organisational information, locations and contacts, constitutional and legal governance.

Our response:

Details of the Trust, organisational structures and key personnel.

The Trust is able to provide the public with details of our organisational structure, including information about the Board of Directors and sub-committees. We are also able to provide access to copies of our: 

• Register of Interests
• Establishment Orders
• Standing Orders
• Standing Financial Instructions
• Scheme of Delegation
• Codes of Conduct and other governance documents

 Working in partnership with other organisations

The Trust also works with other organisations in the provision of services to the community. These partner organisations include key partners within the NHS, the Primary Care Trusts, Partnership Trusts/Mental Health Trusts, academic partners, independent practitioners, local authorities including social services, police, probation, prison service, voluntary and charitable bodies, pharmaceutical services, private sector providers etc.

Some of these organisations are involved in the joint delivery of services with us. If you would like to know more about these arrangements and how these services are managed, please contact the Freedom of Information Officer.

Some of these partnerships may involve the sharing of information, with agreed protocols and procedures in place between organisations to control how this information is shared. If you would like to know more about these arrangements, please contact the Freedom of Information Officer.

All the minutes of Trust meetings are publicly available, although we will withhold information that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or that is personal, confidential information about individuals and is protected under the Data Protection Act 1998. Again, all this information is freely available through our Freedom of Information Officer. 

Funding details, charging policies and financial accounts

Click here to access the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trusts Annual report (full), containing full details of financial statements.

Director of Finance

The Director of Finance has corporate responsibility for the Trust’s finances, and can be contacted via the Finance Department at:

Acre Mill Outpatient Building
Acre Street
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3EB

Tel : 01484 355460

The Trust Board receives a regular update on the financial position of the Trust through the Corporate Finance Report and also receives a half yearly report on the Trust’s Charitable Funds. The Trust has an Audit Committee, chaired by a non-executive director. The minutes of the Audit Committee are reported to the Trust Board.

For information on spending over £25k click here.

In addition to the Corporate Finance Report the Trust’s Annual Accounts and Annual Accounts and Report for its Charitable Funds are also available to the public.

4. Corporate Information

Reports, policies, meetings of minutes and business plans, which the Trust routinely makes available to the public:

Some of this information is of a personal and confidential nature or otherwise exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Data Protection Act 1998 and will be excluded as will any other confidential material. This includes material relating to the health and safety of specific individuals, as to law enforcement or criminal or regulatory enforcement or audit issues may also be excluded from publication.

5. Aims, Targets and Achievements

Annual Report

Financial targets, aims and objectives and key performance indicators

See also Class 9

This class contains information about how the Trust performs against its financial targets and how it is meeting any shortfall or deficit, and what implications, if any, this has for patients across all services.

6. Our Services

Class is described as: Advice and guidance, booklets and leaflets, transactions and media releases.A description of the services offered. The classes of information will not generally include:

• Information the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise properly considered to be protected from disclosure.
• Information in draft form.
• Information that is no longer readily available as it is contained in files that have been placed in archive storage, or is difficult to access for similar reasons.

Our response:

In this class we include information in relation to the range of services that we provide for the NHS and how we deliver these. This information includes:

• Notification of any recent decisions which have been approved by the Trust Board about service changes or variations and the reasons for the decisions.
• Service strategy or current plans the Trust has for its services, and how the public can contribute to these.

A full directory of patient services is available by clicking here.

Complaints or comments about any of our services can be addressed directly through the Trusts Complaints Procedure as outlined in Class 11.

7. Reports and Independent Enquiries

In this class we publish independent inspections and findings regarding the Trust. See Part 3 for a list of bodies which monitor and inspect us.

We will not release the results of any inspection prior to the completion of the inspection process. Similarly, we will not release any information pertaining to an investigation without the consent of the inspecting organisation. Some information that is of a personal and confidential nature will be excluded from the publication of inspection reports, as will any other confidential material. Information relating to the health and safety of specific individuals, as to law enforcement or criminal or regulatory enforcement or audit issues may also be excluded from publication.

8. Policies and Procedures

General policies and procedures in use within the Trust. These include but are not restricted to human resources, prescribing and prescription, health and safety.

The Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust has ongoing organisational policy development in a number of areas. This process enables the development, ratification, and review, of all trust policies. New organisational policies are developed in each directorate by an identified policy author, often using reference groups. The Executive Board then consults upon draft policies with relevant stakeholders prior to approval.

A full list of policies currently available through the publication scheme can be obtained from the Freedom of Information Officer.

9. Public Involvement and Consultation

In this class we will publish details of consultation procedures, decision-making processes, timescales and responses. Consultations in progress, and how you can become involved.

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is the term used to refer to what the Trust calls service user, carer and community involvement.

If you would like to find out more about Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), please contact: 

Patient Advice and Liaison Service

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3EA 

Tel: 01484 342128

Email: Pals@cht.nhs.uk

10. Regular publications and information for the Public

In this class we will make available all guidance and information leaflets for patients along with regular publications.

11. Complaints

Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Trust aims to meet people’s expectations by delivering care of the highest quality. Occasionally things do go wrong and we receive valuable feedback through the Trust’s Complaints procedure. All complaints are thoroughly investigated and our policy is to be open and responsive to both Complainants and Staff.

If you want to make a complaint or comment upon our services, please contact:

Complaints Administration
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3EA

Tel: 01484 342825

Click here to view the Calderdale & Huddersfield Trusts Complaints web pages.

12. Human Resources

Employment policies and procedures

In this class we will make available information relating to policies about training, Recruitment and Retention, Work life balance, Flexible working, Health and Safety, How we communicate with our staff, contracts, Diversity, Policy documents and disciplinary procedures, grievances, sickness absence management, equal opportunities, harassment, bullying and discrimination, pay and pensions, and staff inductions.

13. Communications with the Press and Media Releases

Our releases to the Press and to the Media.

The Communications Department offers public relations support to the Trust and strives to improve the understanding and raise the profile of the Trust and all its services to staff, patients, the general public and other interested organisations. 

The Communications Team consists of:

Communications Manager

Caroline Wright

Acre House
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Acre Street
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3HE

Tel: 01484 355252            

Click to email Caroline

Communications Officer

Jacqui Booth

Acre House
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Acre Street
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3HE

Tel: 01484 355256

Click to email Jacqui

The Communications Team are happy to take media enquiries during office hours. Contact us between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday (apart from Bank Holidays).

For media enquiries outside of these times please call the main switchboard - 01484 342000 - and ask for the Director on Call.

Why not take a look at our news archive.

You can also read our weekly staff bulletins here.

14. Environmental Information

Our estate and land holdings, and the uses they currently enjoy. Information required to be placed in the public domain as a result of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, any Environmental Enforcement action and associated information.

A full list of the estates and land holdings of the Trust is available from the Freedom of Information Officer.       

15. This Publication Scheme

In this class we will publish any changes we make to this Publication Scheme.

Why have a Publication Scheme?

Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (There is a web link to the Act in Part Three below – under useful resources), the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme for the publication of information. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities, of which the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust is one.

As referenced in Class 8, the Trust has developed a number of policies, some of which are currently under development. Some of these policies relate to Information Management. Our policies regarding Information Management are, and will continue to be developed according to models of good practice as recommended by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (www.ic.nhs.uk), and NHS Digital (www.digital.nhs.uk)

Enquiries about how Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust manages Information should be directed to the Freedom of Information Officer.

Cost of Information

For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD ROM). Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

a) Via the Trust’s Web Site –Free of charge, although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual.

For those without Internet access, a single print-out as on the website would be available by post from:

The Freedom of Information Officer

The Health Informatics Service
Ainley Industrial Estate
Ainley Bottom, Elland
HX5 9JP

Tel: 01484 343402

Email: Freedom of Information Officer

However, requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents that are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We will not provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.

b) Leaflets and brochures will be made available free of charge, for example, services we offer to the public. A list is available from the Freedom of Information Officer.

c) “Glossy” or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD Rom, video or other mediums, are for charge as in our publication lists available from the Freedom of Information Officer.

d) e-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise

Charges for the retrieval of any information not listed within the Publication Scheme will be set at £25.00 per hour, per staff member, to a maximum of £450.00. Requests for information costing more than this maximum limit, or information which would take the equivalent of 18 staff hours or more to retrieve, may be refused unless the requestor is prapared to meet the actual costs in advance.

The charges have been set in line with national guidance which can be found here.

Copyright

The material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust’s copyright unless otherwise indicated.   Unless expressly indicated on the material to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium, provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading manner.   Where any of the copyright items in this Scheme are being re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source of the material and acknowledge the copyright status. Permission to reproduce material does not extend to any material accessed through the Publication Scheme that is the copyright of third parties.   You must obtain authorisation to reproduce such material from the copyright holders concerned. For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office for Public Sector Information web site:

www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copyright/copyright-guidance/index.htm

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives everyone the right to request information from any public authority.  The Act aims to promote openness and accountability amongst public sector organisations, so that everyone can understand how authorities make decisions, carry out their duties and spend public money.

Anyone can request information from a public authority, such as Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT).  People seeking information about the Trust are encouraged to review the information routinely published within this Publication Scheme prior to making an application.

Everyone has full access rights to this information.  There are some exemptions, which are outlined in this leaflet.

There is a lot already available on CHFT’s internet site at www.cht.nhs.uk Please look at the site to see if what you want is already there. Updated information is regularly published.

Frequently Asked Questions

The request must be in writing or email:

Email to:  FOI@cht.nhs.uk

Or Mail to:

The Health Informatics Service
Ainley Industrial Estate
Ainley Bottom, Elland
HX5 9JP

You can apply for any information.  You should give a clear description of the information requested and include your name and contact details for correspondence.

We cannot provide anything that would breach the Data Protection Act 1998, such as other people’s personal information. This includes any information that could identify someone

There are some exemptions to the information that we can provide, such as -

• We cannot provide any personal information about yourself. If you require this then you will need to complete a “subject access request” form. https://www.cht.nhs.uk/services/non-clinical-services/appointments-health-records/ 

No.  You do not have to give any explanations regarding why this information is requested.

Generally requests for information must be responded to within 20 working days.  We will always endeavour to meet this deadline.  Occasionally this may not be possible, for example if someone who is supplying specific information is on leave.  If this is likely to be the case we will contact you as soon as possible to see if you wish to receive part of the requested information sooner.

If we need to seek clarification, the 20 days will stop and start again when clarification is received.

In most cases there will be no fee.

However, a fee can be charged when we estimate it will take longer than 18 hours to gather the information.  The Act says that each hour equates to £25 so 18 hours equates to £450. The Trust can therefore charge where it would cost the Trust in excess of £450 to find the information.  If a fee is required for information requested, the 20 day timescale can be extended to up to three months.  We will always speak to you before applying charges.

The Act says that we do not have to give the information in some circumstances.  These are called exemptions.

The Act specifies a number of exemptions some of which are ‘absolute’ exemptions where we cannot release information (or in many cases confirm if it exists).  For example we cannot release personal information about yourself or another person (you can get information about yourself under the Data Protection Act) or confirm that an individual is a service user of Trust services.

In most cases whether to apply an exemption will be based on whether it is in the public interest to release the information or not.  These types of exemptions are ‘non absolute’ exemptions and include:

• Commercially sensitive information e.g. detailed contractual information
• Information which is confidential

The Trust is not obliged to comply with vexatious requests or repeated or substantially similar requests from the same person other than at reasonable intervals.

If the decision is made to not release the information, we will inform you of this with our reasons and provide details about how to challenge this decision.

If for any reason you are unhappy with this service you are entitled to approach the Trust with complaints or comments to:

Company Secretary

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Lindley

Huddersfield

HD3 3EA 

CHFT@cht.nhs.uk

All complaints will be dealt with in accordance with the Trust’s Complaints Procedure.